The ruling yesterday on Northwestern’s union case will probably take awhile to get resolved if the university appeals it through the court system and so far is limited in scope. But USC athletic director Pat Haden commented on it:
“ In terms of health benefits and stipends, we provide the maximum allowed under NCAA rules, but we would love the opportunity to do more, especially when it comes to feeding our student-athletes. It is unjust that we cannot feed them when they are hungry. The Northwestern case will work its way through the court system over the next few years, and we will closely monitor it, and maintain a dialogue with our student-athletes about how we can improve.”
“…..and increase the PSL fees.”
Feed the kids, Pat!
Northwestern better be careful before the get exactly what they want..
A salary, and you have to pay your own way through school.
That’s the question the players need to ponder. Based on the revenue that athletics (primarily football and basketball) bring into the university, would a fair market salary be greater or less than the value of a scholarship. Depending on the answer, the athletes would choose accordingly. I don’t know about NW, but I’m sure SC footballers bring into the university much more than the cost of tuition, boarding, etc… The issue would be whether all athletes get the same deal. I would assume they would regardless of player or sport. That being the case, I can see division within the union happening really quickly and the whole thing could fall apart
Better call Saul
I agree with you. However the University dam now has large visible leaking cracks. Carefully exploited, a player union could force large Football Universities (SUCC for one) to open their books and explain unexplainable business practices.
Consider the cost of Health care too.. would it benefit them to pay their own healthcare with a salary, or if the school should
USC basketball fans should form a union and demand to be paid for attending those games. Fair is fair.
And get a refund for the PSLs.
Just ask Reggie Bush, Dwayne Jarrett, Dillon Baxter, Joe McFumble about being “hungry at Southern Cal”!
Aren’t free new cars and slush fund accounts from the athletic supporter fund enough?
Or go to UCLA and have a nerdy punter do your homework for you for $10.00 a page.
And date Nellie Belle.
UCLA should have suspected something was up when the whole team was writing papers about LGBT rights issues.
HA!
It will be years before this is fully litigated, but it appears Northwestern’s Appeal will fall on deaf ears, so some form of unionization will be here to stay
For now Northwestern is only asking for full medical attention if a player is hurt, and for assurances that a scholarship will not be pulled. They’re not asking for NFL type salaries.
But we’ll see how this evolves. Should be interesting because the idea of amateur athletes is largely a hypocritical myth, and with t.v. money, the colleges are making a fortune off of these 18-22 year olds.